We participated in the anniversary edition of the Eroica in Tuscany

Sunday October 2, 2016. The alarm clock is at 4 am and I wake up in a moody bed and breakfast nearby Gaiole in Chianti. That day I participate, together with my best friend Günther Desaever and who is also the administrator of this website, in the twentieth edition of the L'Eroica.

Even for seasoned cycling tourists like us, this is a real adventure: 209 kilometers through the Chiantistreek, but about 100 kilometers on the so-called strade bianchi: a mix between gravel and dirt roads in the rural areas of this beautiful region.

The climbing is also not bad, because we have to overcome more than 3,500 altimeters: something that I translate for myself as riding 2 cols out of category. The fact that the route then has to be covered again with an old racing bicycle (steel frame, no clipless pedals, sprints on the frame with a maximum of 12) makes it even more challenging.

Fully trained, we are at the start at five o'clock in the morning at the market place of Gaiole in Chianti. It's still pitch dark. With good bicycle lighting it is not a problem on public roads, but once outside the center we hear the sound of wild boars in a wooded area.

The first stretch of 'strade bianche' is a real adventure. The path that slowly winds up through the beautiful wine castle of Brolio, is illuminated on both sides with candles. A beautiful image to pass!

The first firm climb is soon there, just outside Gaiole in Chianti. Immediately you feel how difficult it will all be. On a climb comparable to the better Ardennes work, the lack of road surface ensures that you only make slow progress. But even worse is the descent, on those gravel roads you don't venture down without occasionally grabbing the brakes.

And then the shocks. We drive south in the Chianti region, to circle the region after 80 kilometers Montalcino . A beautiful city, on a hill as the name suggests, but very difficult to reach the center from those gravel roads.

Here, for the first time, the heart rate goes too high to be good, but if you want to maintain a speed of 10 kilometers per hour, this "effort" is the price. But admit: it is one of the most beautiful routes of this ride and that does mean something. Unfortunately, there is no time to visit the beautiful center or to taste the delicious wines and olive oil.

Winegums?

But speaking of wine… The supplies of the Eroica are a sight in themselves. No sports drink, gingerbread, energy bars or Sagan's wine gums, which are already introduced on cycling tours… but bananas, sandwiches with salami, ham, Nutella or even sugar dipped in red wine and even wine as drinks.

Fortunately, I have cheated a bit, because the back pockets of my cycling jersey contain three W-cups… and we will still need them.

Montalcino appears to be the turning point and then we drive back via Buonconvento, the legs still feel very good. Strangely enough, on the less heavy part of the climb to Castelnuovo Berardenga, however not insurmountable, the legs are starting to feel heavy. After the climb the environment becomes greener, woodier again.

We are arriving Monte Sante Marie, known as a referee in the (tilaan) cycling classic Strade Bianchi, which will be ridden at the beginning of March. A gravel strip of more than 11 kilometers and the ascent to the hamlet rises to 22%. About half of the participants get off their bikes here.

We refuse to fold but sweat is dripping from our foreheads and maybe it's best that we don't wear a heart rate monitor on this old fashioned ride today.

At km 185 there is yet another infernal descent, neck and shoulders are already hurting. Then comes the final, which we finish less explosively but with a happy mood. The feeling that you are going to end this heroical ride makes you forget all the pain. A beautiful ending is the piece of climbing at about ten kilometers outside Radda in Chianti.

A beautiful strada bianca, surrounded by cypresses, winds down to an already magnificent domain. Another descent and we already see Radda appearing in the distance.

In the center, every cyclist is welcomed as a hero, even if you can not get out of your click pedal and of pure fatigue you crash down on sacred Tuscan ground.

Eroica, we wouldn't do it every year but at the same time we recommend it to every cycling tourist. It is more than a bike ride for sports enthusiasts, it is an experience. Unique to drive, good for years of tough talk and a memory for life.